E-Cigarettes: Vaping to a healthier Life

E-Cigarettes: Vaping to a healthier Life

As Stoptober draws to a close it is time to see whether this campaign along with others help smokers quit for good. A recent way that has helped smoker to cut down or either quit is the use of E-Cigarettes. Since they were first introduced in 2005 they have been helping many people stop smoking. In tobacco cigarettes there are over 60 known carcinogens. In the UK 100,000 people die each year due to smoke related illnesses such as cancers, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), strokes and chronic bronchitis. Second-hand smoke on the other hand causes 600,000 deaths internationally annually.

In the Stoptober advert for 2017 it endorsed the use of e-cigarettes by including a man vaping in the advert. A study showed that over half the people that use e-cigarettes have used them to quit and have been successful. Many people talk about the e-cigarettes mimicking actual cigarettes allowing them to inhale and exhale vapour. The use of e-cigarettes sparked in 2012 however there are still roughly nine million people in the UK who still smoke.

The government’s deputy chief medical officer Prof Gina Radford said e-cigarettes were playing an important role and, as they had “95% less harmful products” in them than normal cigarettes, it was only right that they were promoted during Stoptober.

Since the change in tobacco and cigarette laws in May 2017 there has been evidence that this has not necessarily decreased the number of smokers in the UK. The new legislation attempted to make smoking less attractive to young people; as most smokers start smoking when they are under 18 and to also stop poorer people (income under £10,000) from smoking as 19% of them are more likely to smoke compared to 10.7% of people who earn over £40,000. Since the law was enforced there has been no branding on cigarette packages (making them less attractive), banning ten packs of cigarettes (known as lipstick packs), banning of 10g and 20g rolling tobacco packs and no more flavoured tobacco and cigarettes. It’s hoped the law will reduce the number of smokers across the EU by 2.4 million.

E-cigs are not risk free and after a month of heavy vaping there were signs of increased inflammation in my lungs. Nonetheless for smoker’s e-cigarettes could prove to be a game changer.

There is a huge amount at stake. A billion people worldwide spend around £500bn a year on cigarettes and around half of them will die of smoking related diseases. In the UK alone, smoking kills around 100,000 a year. Anything which gets people off cigarettes is going to save a lot of lives.